Night guards, TMJ & TMD care in Winchester
If you wake with a sore jaw, a headache that starts at the temples, or teeth that are visibly shorter than they used to be, you are probably grinding in your sleep. A guard made from your own impressions is the usual answer, and it is made here.
Made from your own impressions or scan
Your guard is made from impressions or a scan of your own teeth.
TMJ evaluation in-house
Jaw pain is examined and explained here.
American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine
Dr. Orr is a member.
Sore jaw, headaches, worn teeth
Most people do not know they grind. They know their jaw is sore when they wake up.
A jaw that aches more in the morning than at night. A headache sitting at the temples by midday. Teeth that have gone flat, chipped at the edges, or turned sensitive to cold. Sometimes a partner who hears it at night.
Clenching and grinding while you are asleep, called bruxism. The force goes on for hours, which is why it wears enamel.
A guard worn at night takes the load that would otherwise go to the teeth. It does not stop the grinding.
The guard
Two guards, made the same way and for different reasons.
A night guard
- What it is for
- Grinding and clenching in your sleep.
- How it is made
- Impressions or a scan, then a guard made to fit, then a visit to adjust it once you have slept in it.
A sports guard
- What it is for
- Contact sport, where a knocked-out tooth is the risk.
- How it is made
- The same three steps, in a material built to take an impact rather than a night of clenching.
When it is the joint, not the teeth
Grinding is one reason a jaw hurts. The joint itself is another, and they are not the same problem.
- Your jaw clicks, pops or catches when you open it.
- It locks, or will not open as far as it used to.
- The ache sits in front of the ear rather than in the teeth.
- Headaches, ear pain or neck pain that nobody has been able to tie to anything else.
Problems with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) are called temporomandibular disorders, or TMD. A lot of things route through the joint: the bite, the muscles, the disc inside it, and how much you clench. Working out which of those is driving it is what an evaluation is for: how the jaw moves, where it is tender, how the teeth meet, and what the wear patterns say.
Treatment here includes night guards, full-mouth equilibration, equilibrating splints and, for clenching and TMJ, therapeutic Botox. Which of those fits depends entirely on what the evaluation finds, and it is talked through with you there.
Sleep apnea appliances
Dr. Orr has years of experience in TMJ treatment and sleep apnea, and offers oral appliances for it.
- TAP oral appliance
- SomnoDent oral appliance
- EMA MAD oral appliance
Dr. Orr is a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. If snoring or broken sleep is the problem, call and tell us what is happening at night.
Sleep care is also part of holistic and biologic dentistry here.
Holistic and biologic dentistry
TMJ treated here in Winchester, TN
TMJ care from Franklin County usually means a drive to Murfreesboro, Huntsville or Chattanooga, an hour each way.
The evaluation happens in Winchester, TN, with your bite records already on file.
Tell us where it hurts and when. That is most of what the first appointment is.
Decherd · 5 min 
Cowan · 10 min 
Estill Springs · 10 min 
Huntland · 15 min 
Belvidere · 15 min 
Tullahoma · 20 min 
Sewanee · 20 min 
Monteagle · 25 min 
Lynchburg · 25 min 
Manchester · 25 min
What people want to know about guards
Will a night guard stop me grinding?
No. Grinding happens while you are asleep and a guard does not reach the reason for it. What it does is absorb the wear, so it lands on a piece of plastic you can replace rather than on enamel you cannot.
I am nervous about dental work.
Impressions and a fitting are about as gentle as dentistry gets. Even so, tell us when you call and again when you arrive, and we have weighted blankets if you would like one. And if the room itself is the problem, sedation is available: nitrous oxide, oral or IV, for patients 13 and over.
Our sedation dentistry optionsHow long does a night guard last?
How long it lasts depends on how hard you grind. A visibly worn guard is doing its job. Bring it to a checkup and we will tell you whether it still has life in it.
Do I have to wear it every night?
It only works on the nights you wear it, so yes, if the grinding is nightly. Most people stop noticing it; ask if you do not. If it is uncomfortable enough that you are leaving it out, that is a fitting problem, and a visit can fix it.
Why not just buy one from the drugstore?
A boil-and-bite guard is one shape softened and pressed onto your teeth, so it fits approximately and is usually bulkier than it needs to be. A made guard starts from impressions or a scan of your own teeth and is adjusted after you have slept in it. If cost is the reason, say so on the phone.
Is a mouth guard the same as a night guard?
Mouth guard is a name for more than one kind of guard. A night guard is for grinding and clenching in your sleep, and it is made from impressions or a scan of your own teeth, then adjusted once you have slept in it. A sports guard is for contact sport, where a knocked-out tooth is the risk.
Does insurance cover a night guard?
Often in part, depending on the plan. We will do our best to check yours before anything is made, but please bring your plan details, and the patient is ultimately responsible for the cost. How billing works here is on our patient information page.
Patient information